hustler fastrack

been wanting to start in commercial mowing for awhile. I have only done what I call side jobs for alittle bit of spending money. An account just kinda fell into my lap that is $7,000 to $8,000 a yr. net prolly $5,000 to $6,000. it is a school account of about 5 acres not to many thens in the way and fairly level. Anyways since I'm just starting out, I don't want to buy a mower that is outrages in price, but I did come accross a Hustler fastrack 20 hp kohler courage 52 in deck for $4,499 . Will this mower last me say 1000 hrs or not with any major repairs if taken care of, in otherwords can i mow about 9 acres 36 times a year for 5 plus years, then have money to upgrade and more accounts. The frame and deck are solid, the hydros are IZT and seems pretty beefy and responsive. My main concern is the 20 hp kohler courage. Is it solid? thanks

the account I got for the School lawn fell onto me because the company that had it can not do it any longer do to health issuses. It was a mom and pop company. The school wants it mowed this week. thanks

i'm with MM on this one. the ezt motors found on the mini fasttrak are rated for 800 hrs. the fasttrak has izt motors. so let's say they are rated at 1000 hrs and then will need replacing at a cost of $1000 ea. add that cost to what you will spend a FT and you can get into a mini z, and it is commercial. better yet, look at the equipment forum here and you may find what you need.

Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle and spit
The difficult I can do right now, the impossible may take a little longer.

What it boils down to is that you don't want to spend much money, BUT the more you spend, the more solid your operation will be. I recommend you persuade yourself to spend as much as your wallet will let you if you are truly serious about starting up a business.

I bought a Fastrak when I was first starting out, it now has between 600-700 hrs. on it. As far as the deck and frame it is plenty strong enough. I bought one of the first one's with a briggs 17.5hp on it I replaced the engine at about 350 hrs. If I had it to do over again I would not have bought it. I have had little things go wrong with it that I fixed myself.

If you are looking to spend between $4-5K on a single mower there are lots of options you can go with that will put yourself into a full blown commercial unit. First off are you going to pay cash or finance? If you are paying cash, have you looked at any of the belt drive walk-behind commercial mowers, I just bought a Gravely 1332G with a 2-wheel velky for around $2400, to step up to a larger unit from my dealer like the 44" unit would put you between $3K-$3500. Please don't think I'm trying to push you to a Gravely, I'm not. Also look at the Bob-Cats, Snapper Pro, Scags, & Exmarks all are good machines. By going this route you can free up some $ if you are paying w/cash to spend on a good backpack blower or good stick edger etc.

If you are financing look at the Hustler Mini Z or one of the Hustler hydro walk-behinds. Yes they will cost a little more than the Fastrak Z but the come w/commercial warrenties because they are commercial machines. Also look at the Bob-Cats, Gravely, Exmark, etc.

Remeber if you are financing, $500-1K is not going to change your payments that much over the course of the payment term.

Sorry so long, just trying to point out some things I learned the hard way.